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'I was scared that I would be too outclassed because of my visual impairment'

Steve Joy says a blind hockey camp in Vancouver this summer prompted him to try and bring the activity to this province. (Peter Cowan/CBC)

If you're puzzled by how somebody could play hockey blind, Steve Joy of Kelligrews isn't offended; he once wondered about it, too.

"A lot of times people don't understand. They say, 'Blind hockey? How does somebody blind play hockey?' ... I felt the same way," he said.

But a blind ice hockey camp in Vancouver — which Joy's son, Brandon, attended — had him wondering no more. Now Joy is trying to make it a regular activity in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Steve Joy's son tried blind hockey in Vancouver, and now he wants to bring the activity to this province. 2:03

Dozens attended an event Thursday put off by the Canadian Blind Ice Hockey Association in Paradise.

"The puck is a larger puck. It's made out of metal. It has bearings inside of it and that's obviously for audible, so that people can hear it," Joy said.

'It's pretty cool'

Brandon Joy said he loves the sport, but a regular puck poses challenges.

"Imagine taking toilet paper tubes and looking through those. So it's basically I have no peripheral vision, or [am] losing it," he said.

"From [a] far distance, I can see stuff. But as soon as it gets closer, I can't really see it at all … If the puck is right by my feet, people with normal vision would be able to see it, but I wouldn't be able to at all."